


Safe

by kwsni



Category: Firefly
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-06-19
Updated: 2013-07-10
Packaged: 2017-12-15 11:54:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,568
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/849269
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kwsni/pseuds/kwsni
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Eight years after the events of the series, the crew of Serenity is reunited.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1: Simon

Simon watched River skip ahead of them, proud of her progress. Eight years had done her good, even with Jayne’s influence. She was still a little on the disconnected side, but that had been normal before the Academy, Simon didn’t worry about it much. She had done well, learned how to be a nurse in the matter of a few weeks, learned how to shoot better than Jayne in a few days. River had been a comfort, when Simon’s regrets had paralyzed him.

“Doc.” Jayne grunted. “That what I think it is?” He pointed at the ship now beginning to loom into their vision.

“It does look like a Firefly, doesn’t it?” Such a strange summons, not like one of Jayne’s usual jobs. The wave hadn’t said more than coordinates and a time, but River had insisted they go, and Simon had learned to trust her intuition.

“Ain’t just a Firefly. It’s gorram Serenity.”

“It can’t be. Serenity’s been scrap metal for years now. River? Come back now.” It must be someone else, not this ghost. River came reluctantly back, plodding beside Jayne.

“Don’t make no ruttin sense.”

Simon had to agree with him about that. Four figures were coming around the end of the ship now, and Simon recognized Kaylee, Inara, Zoe and Wash. How familiar they all were, even after so long apart. River was already running to them, embracing Kaylee like a sister. Jayne spat a curse as she slipped by him, but Simon barely noticed. Dear Kaylee. He hadn’t realized how much he missed her until he saw her again. He and Jayne drew close to them now, and Kaylee stepped out to greet them.

“Where’s Book?”

Simon hung his head. Of course that was what they want to know first, Book had been shot, when they left, so he had gone with Simon and Jayne. “He- I couldn’t save him. He had lost too much blood, and I--”

“Oh, Simon.” Kaylee rested her hand on his arm. Simon swallowed the lump in his throat. Losing a patient was always hard, losing one you had lived with was nearly unbearable.

“Good to see you all again, of course, but does anybody know what the hell is going on?” Wash said.

Simon shook his head, Jayne and River did the same. Before anyone could give him an answer, the ramp to the cargo bay began to grind open. Simon exchanged a look with Jayne, and drew his gun. Zoe’s hand hovered over her holster, but she didn’t draw. A man stood just inside, but the dust billowed up to obscure his face.

Simon and Jayne held their guns on him as he staggered down the ramp. Wash stepped in front of Zoe, and she didn’t even push him out of the way. Simon’s first instinct was to go to him, he looked so tired.

Was it Mal? Could it be?

“Did you ever see such a lazy crew?”

“Mal?” Kaylee squeaked, and started to run to him. Simon caught her arm before she could reach him. Even if it was the captain, he may not be the man they knew.

Mal coughed a laugh. “What’s wrong, Doc? Don’t trust me?” Simon frowned. How could it be him, after what happened, after all these years?

River slipped by Simon, and Kaylee twisted out of his grasp. Simon liked to think he could handle himself now, but Kaylee had always done just as she wanted.

“Well, ain’t you the purtiest pair of girls I ever set eyes on.” Mal said as River and Kaylee reached him. “Lil’ Kaylee.” He nodded at her, and his eyes flashed iridescent, unnatural blue. Simon stared. What had he done to them?

“Oh, Mal.” Kaylee said.

The captain smiled as she hugged him, and then collapsed. Kaylee caught him, and they slid slowly to the deck.

Simon was there in an instant, checking his pulse, his breathing. Up close there was no question. It was the captain. A scar sliced from the middle of his forehead, down to his nose and over his cheekbone. And his eyes were still wrong, that shining reflected blue, but it was Mal. Half starved, beaten and broken, Mal.

His eyes fluttered open again, and Kaylee brushed his ragged hair from his face. “It’s alright now, Cap. We’re home.” She told him.

Simon stood up, confident that Mal’s faint had been the result of malnourishment and stress, and looked up at the ship for the first time. Good god, Mal. What have you done to her? What did we do to you? Had this been their fault? Would the ship still be intact if they’d stayed? The walls were black, the gangways and catwalks twisted. There was a ladder where the stairs had been, ropes and planks of wood ran between the shuttle docks.

“I ain’t--” Mal was saying, and Simon turned back to listen to him speak to Kaylee. The rest of the crew had gathered around them. “I ain’t-- I ain’t a mechanic, Kaylee, and I ain’t a pilot neither, Wash, and Serenity’s paid for it, sorry to say.”

Simon watched the rest of the crew as they began to believe it was Mal. Jayne was still holding his gun, good old Angela, but no longer training it on the captain. Simon was secretly glad the big mercenary didn’t trust Mal completely, it meant someone would be watching their backs if this backfired. Zoe and Wash had moved beside Kaylee, and Inara knelt on Mal’s other side, whispering to him. River only hovered, but Simon thought he knew what was going on in that head of hers. She could hear everything everyone was thinking, she’d put together the puzzle before any of the rest of them knew it was on the table.

Mal only had eyes for Inara, drinking in her words like a man in a desert.

Simon’s gaze drifted over the crew again, settling on Wash. The pilot wasn’t looking at Mal; he was looking at Serenity with grief and pain in his face. Simon felt sorry for him, and for Kaylee, who he hoped had been too preoccupied with Mal to notice her beloved ship’s disfigurement. Inara stood, brushing tears from her eyes, and Simon took her place by the captain’s side. Mal’s eerie gaze found him.

“I’m alright, doc, just had to lie down for a spell.”

“Yes, I am sure that was all you needed,” Simon told him, lying through his teeth. He had once been bad at lying, long ago. “But I would rather you came up to the infirmary, just to make sure. Jayne, will you--”

“No.” Simon looked up at Zoe’s interruption. “I’ll do it.” Simon opened his mouth to object, but the set of her jaw allowed no argument.

Simon nodded. Zoe picked Mal up like a child, despite his protests that he could walk his own self to the infirmary. Simon followed behind Zoe, and the rest of the crew came close at his heels. Someone had the foresight to lift the ramp up. It was soon apparent that the damage to the ship was not confined to the cargo bay, the lounge, even the infirmary had suffered major damage. Simon wondered if she could still fly.

Zoe set Mal carefully on the swing-down bed in the infirmary, and Simon began searching for his monitors.

Kaylee slipped in next to Mal, perching on the edge of the bed. Simon stole glances at her while he made Mal comfortable, and ran some simple tests. Kaylee had tears in her eyes, from the state of Serenity, Simon was sure. Serenity was Kaylee’s baby, just as sure as the child in Wash’s arms was his. Kaylee slipped her hand in Mal’s, he brought it to his lips.

“I’m sorry, mei mei. I tried. I couldn’t keep her going and--” The captain’s voice broke. Simon thought he caught a glimpse of Zoe’s wince. Kaylee just smiled, though, and patted his hand.

“Don’t you worry, Cap. Simon’s gonna fix you up right and proper, and Wash and me will take care of Serenity. We’ll have her good as new in no time.”  
Kaylee looked up at Simon, a question in her eyes.

How could she even think he wouldn’t take care of the captain? Simon was still a doctor; if someone needed medical attention as much as Mal did, he was obligated to provide it. Simon stared back at her, and nodded reassuringly, he hoped. Kaylee stayed until the captain drifted to sleep, Simon watched them both as he put his infirmary to rights. Half the equipment was gone, and most of the medicine, but it was enough to get by, for now. Mal really only needed food and sleep, anyway.

The rest of the crew milled about in the lounge, anxious and worried. He saw Jayne sit down and stand back up at least three times, even then Jayne’s fingers never strayed far from his holster. Seeing Mal weak always brought the crew together like nothing else, now that they were back, Simon wondered why someone hadn’t convinced him to come with them. The answer to that was simple, of course. Mal would never leave Serenity. He would die first.

Having done all he could for Mal, Simon wandered out into the lounge. Everyone leapt up and looked at him, expecting an explanation.

“Is he gonna be ok?” Wash asked.

“He will be fine.” Simon told them. The tension drained instantly from the room. “He is weak and malnourished. As far as I can tell, he hasn’t eaten in at least a week, but he is not sick. Just worn out. He’s been through a lot. Some of his scars are awful, and they are fairly fresh. Nothing fatal, though.”

Zoe’s lips were pursed, but she said nothing, and Simon could never see through that soldier’s mask. Kaylee and Inara hugged each other, Kaylee’s head on the companion’s shoulder. Inara looked like she might need comforting of her own. Wash’s hands twisted on a charred piece of the couch, his worry plain on his face. River was apparently very interested in the ceiling. Jayne asked the question foremost on Simon’s mind while peering into the infirmary at Mal.

“What’s wrong with his eyes? They ain’t natural.” Jayne’s insight was good, if a little obvious.

“I don’t know. I have never seen anything like it before. I suppose we will have to wait, and see if he can explain it.”

Zoe, having claimed her child from Wash, stepped in front of Simon. “You tell me true, Doc. What do you think happened to him?” Simon always hated it when she fixed him with those eyes of hers, it felt like she was burrowing into his soul.

“I don’t know that either. I have seen scars like the ones on his wrists from handcuffs, but he would have had to have been fighting them a long time, to slice his arms up like that. The one on his face is probably from a piece of glass, or sharp metal. His nose could have been broken any time, in a bar fight, or somewhere else. I haven’t conducted a thorough examination, either.”

Zoe stared at him for a moment, as if to make sure he was telling the truth, and turned away. Simon moved to the couch, his head spinning with questions. What had happened to Serenity? What had Mal done to his eyes? Why hadn’t he eaten in days? How long had he been stuck on this deserted rock?

Zoe quietly conferred with Wash, and they both headed up to the bridge. Inara gave Simon a pained look and padded back towards the cargo bay. Simon badly wanted to say something to comfort her, but didn’t know what. Jayne fixed Simon with a glare before going towards the crew’s quarters. Simon rolled his eyes. He knew what that look meant by now, and he would be careful, but with only River and Kaylee left in the room, he didn’t know what he needed to be careful about.

Simon spent a moment thinking about how nice it would be to be alone with Kaylee.

River huffed, and moved toward the passenger dorm. “Can’t thread a needle with a sledgehammer.” She intoned before slipping out of sight.

Simon smiled, and transferred his attention to Kaylee. Her hair was in pigtails, much too long now to put in little knots at the back of her head. Simon watched the smile flicker across her face as River left, and watched the despair and heartbreak take its place. Tears that had only brimmed in her eyes spilled onto her cheeks.

Simon leapt up to comfort her, finally knowing better than to open his mouth.

“She’s so pretty, Simon. A woman now. All growed up.”

Simon blinked. She was crying about River? What about the ship? What about the captain? “She-- She doesn’t do that so much any more. I found drugs that work, though I can’t repair the damage they did at the academy.”

Kaylee sank onto the couch, and Simon followed, his arm still around her shoulders. To be so close to her after so long was intoxicating, but now was not the time to let her know how he felt. Why should he still feel this way? A lot had changed since they left Serenity, it ought to be enough for him to let anything they had had go. And yet, having this girl beside him made him happier than he had been the last eight years.

She sniffed, and Simon handed her his handkerchief. Kaylee smiled up at him gratefully, and dried her eyes.

“All that time, Simon. Can’t we just start back up where we left off?”

Simon frowned at her, and stroked her hair as he thought about it. Where had they left off? With him saying ‘I love you’ as Jayne dragged him toward a shuttle? That was no place to continue from. He wouldn’t mess this up again, though.

“What was the highlight of that relationship? The part where I insulted you, or the part where I got you shot?” She started to protest, but Simon laid a finger to her lips. “No, Kaylee, we can’t.”

Tears spilled anew from her eyes, Simon took his hanky and dried them.

“We can start where we should have left off.” Simon didn’t hesitate, just leaned in and kissed her softly.

Kaylee gave him a trademark grin, and flung her arms around his neck.


	2. Wash

Wash ran his hands over the consoles, over his chair, brushed his fingertips over the backs of his dinosaurs, still in their place of honor on the dash. How had they survived, when so much of Serenity had been mangled or destroyed?

His wife paced slowly behind him, humming to little Mal.

“Something’s not right. The captain doesn’t live like this. He doesn’t just let things slide. What could have made him do this?” Zoe asked him.

Wash shook his head. He didn’t know, didn’t much care at the moment. His beautiful bridge was in ruins, the whole ship was. One cortex screen was smashed, the coms camera was scratched and dirty. Half of the dials were torn off, and hardly any of the switches did anything. He hadn’t sat in the chair yet, didn’t want to get too comfortable, if they weren’t staying. Zoe would probably kill him, anyway.

“Wash.”

Wash blinked. Had she been talking to him? “Mm?”

“I asked if you think you can get her in the air.” Serenity was covered in dust, stuck on this dump of a planet.

“This is cobbled together, but it’ll fly. Kaylee’s gonna have to look at the engine, though.” Wash picked up the T-Rex, needing to have something in his hands to bleed off his nervous energy. Of course, as soon as he picked up the dinosaur, little Mal started crying. Zoe never could get him to stop, and it only made her angry to try, so she handed him over.

The toy abandoned, Wash sank into the pilot’s chair to soothe his son. Zoe watched him sit, her eyes narrowing.

“What?”

“Been a long time since I saw you in that chair, husband.” Wash spun slowly, thinking about the last time he was here. Eight years was a long time, long enough to change who they were. Zoe wanted to stay, wanted to give up all they’d built and come back to Serenity. Mal always came first with her. Wash thought he had accepted that years ago, but his chest still tightened at the thought.

“It feels kinda weird.” He said, because he needed to say something, and didn’t want to start a fight he’d probably lose. Zoe gave him one of those soldier’s faces, and let the silence stretch between them.  
Wash continued to rock little Mal. So what if she wanted to come back. It’s not like the work they were getting now was any better than it would be on Serenity. Their cut would be smaller, but who gave a damn about money? They had a little tucked away for a catastrophe, what more could you need? A ship was a lousy place to raise a child anyway, what did it matter which one?

“I’m gonna go check on the captain.” Zoe said abruptly.

Just like that, she was gone, and Wash was left on the bridge with his son and a pit in his stomach.

Wash did what little repair work he could with one hand, telling little Mal of their adventures aboard Serenity. The boy wouldn’t remember a thing, but then Wash wasn’t sure he wanted him to. Anyway, the sound of his father’s voice soothed him, and that was good enough for Wash.

He was cursing in Chinese at a conduit that had zapped him when Inara appeared in the doorway.

“Hello Wash.” She said, coming to stand at the top of the stairs that led below decks. Time had not made a difference on her, Wash decided, she was still as beautiful as ever.

“Nara.” Wash stopped fiddling with the consoles, and gave little Mal a dinosaur to mouth, to keep him quiet.

Inara swept little Mal out of his grasp, dinosaur and all. The boy giggled as she cooed to him. “So how is young Malcolm?”

Wash watched as she played with him, glad at least that she and Kaylee had come with them. They shouldn’t have broken up like that, should have stayed together, protected each other. It was a miracle that Simon and Jayne had gotten this far, Simon would have been long dead or snatched by the feds without Jayne. They had lost Book to his wounds from the battle, Simon said, and from the look on his face when he said it, Wash believed him. Simon had lost a lot of his innocence, he held a gun with confidence now. But that came from living in the rough and tumble, under the radar.

Wash thought he and Zoe had done well for themselves too, had their own ship now, though they didn’t have anyone to crew her. Truth was, neither Wash or Zoe felt right about being a part of another crew, they’d agreed not to take one on till the jobs got so they couldn’t handle them on their own. Now, with Mal and Serenity back in their lives, Wash didn’t know if they ever would.

Inara had put little Mal to sleep, She laid him in the chair at the other console, and turned back to stare out the front windows.

“It’s odd, being here.” Wash couldn’t help but notice how she needed to be touching everything, the coms, the consoles, the railing. Hell, he was willing to bet she loved the ship as much as he did. Why hadn’t he noticed it before?

Wash laughed. “Don’t I know it.”

“Without my shuttle, I’m not sure where exactly I’m supposed to be.”

“I don’t think any of us are. It feels like coming home, but then I remember I already have a home.” Such as it was, anyway. Wasn’t Serenity more like home than their ship? They had family here, dysfunctional homicidal family, but family. Wouldn’t it be better for little Mal to grow up around eight people that loved each other, instead of just two?

“Nowhere has been a home to me like Serenity has. On Sinhon I felt safe, but never at home. I don’t understand how one year can make such an impact.”

“Well, me neither, but eight years can sure pack a wallop. Look at this place.” Wash wanted the old beautiful Serenity back. He didn’t know what to think of this twisted hulk of a ship.

“Do you think you’ll stay?” Inara asked, trying to close one of the locker doors all the way, and failing.

“Till the captain’s better, yeah. But we’ve already got The Minnow, and some jobs lined up. Zoe wants to stay, though. So I reckon we will.”

Inara nodded, still staring out at the expanse of desert. Why were all these border moons deserts? Couldn’t they have a jungle, just for a little variety?

“Will you?” Wash asked, his curiosity getting the better of him.

Inara sighed. “I don’t know. I’ll see that he’s well, but with Mal, things are always...”

“Complicated.” Wash supplied, knowing the feeling.

“That would be the word.”


End file.
